“Oh no, it’s broken!” – How product functionality limits lifespan
- Today a large variety of products with various features and designs are available for consumers. In addition to the main functions of a product, there are more and more additional functions, especially for electrical and electronic appliances. This means that looking for the right product may require extensive research by consumers and does not always lead to a sense of making an informed purchase decision. The wide variety of designs and functions can overwhelm consumers. This creates uncertainty and might lead to overrate products functionality and thus significantly shorten the service lifetime of appliances. Furthermore, the environmental impact of such functions is usually unclear, and can vary depending on the actual usage scenario. In this study, a survey was carried out in order to better understand consumers perceptions and experiences related to additional functions of products, with specific focus on domestic hobs, household refrigerating appliances and televisions. TheToday a large variety of products with various features and designs are available for consumers. In addition to the main functions of a product, there are more and more additional functions, especially for electrical and electronic appliances. This means that looking for the right product may require extensive research by consumers and does not always lead to a sense of making an informed purchase decision. The wide variety of designs and functions can overwhelm consumers. This creates uncertainty and might lead to overrate products functionality and thus significantly shorten the service lifetime of appliances. Furthermore, the environmental impact of such functions is usually unclear, and can vary depending on the actual usage scenario. In this study, a survey was carried out in order to better understand consumers perceptions and experiences related to additional functions of products, with specific focus on domestic hobs, household refrigerating appliances and televisions. The results confirm the large number of additional functions and their overwhelming effect for consumers. Consumers purchase devices with more features than desired, or replaced them prematurely because an extra feature fails while the main function is still available. The findings of the study can be used to better inform consumers and support them to make environmentally sustainable purchasing decisions.…


| Autor*innen: | Jana Rückschloss, Christoph Tochtrop, Justus von Geibler, Moritz-Caspar SchlegelORCiD |
|---|---|
| Dokumenttyp: | Beitrag zu einem Tagungsband |
| Veröffentlichungsform: | Verlagsliteratur |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Titel des übergeordneten Werkes (Englisch): | PLATE 2025 - Proceedings of the 6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference |
| Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung: | 2025 |
| Organisationseinheit der BAM: | S Qualitätsinfrastruktur |
| S Qualitätsinfrastruktur / S.3 Ökodesign und Energieverbrauchskennzeichnung | |
| Herausgeber (Institution): | Aalborg University |
| Erste Seite: | 666 |
| Letzte Seite: | 674 |
| DDC-Klassifikation: | Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / Ingenieurwissenschaften / Sanitär- und Kommunaltechnik; Umwelttechnik |
| Freie Schlagwörter: | Circular economy; Durability; Ecodesign; Functionality; Purchase decision |
| Themenfelder/Aktivitätsfelder der BAM: | Umwelt |
| Umwelt / Circular Economy | |
| Veranstaltung: | 6th Product Lifetimes and the Environment Conference (PLATE2025) |
| Veranstaltungsort: | Aalborg, Denmark |
| Beginndatum der Veranstaltung: | 02.07.2025 |
| Enddatum der Veranstaltung: | 04.07.2025 |
| DOI: | 10.54337/plate2025 |
| URL: | https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/plate2025 |
| ISSN: | 2794-9540 |
| ISBN: | 97887-7642-060-4 |
| Verfügbarkeit des Dokuments: | Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access") |
| Datum der Freischaltung: | 30.07.2025 |
| Referierte Publikation: | Nein |

